Basicaly yes. it is also a hp to weight thing. The heavier the car/truck the harder it is to get the thing moving. If the import car made 400 hp and 180 torque and weighed 2,000 pounds the HP will be high. Right now i have a mustang that leaves on 800 hp but it weighs 3200 pounds it doesnt haul but until the 1/8th mile and goes 8.60 @ 163 mph now a 163 mph is really a 8.40 pass in a 3000 pound car! Getting confusing now isnt it!

 

Actually, I am following you. I understand completely. Back to what I said earlier:
"From what I have always heard, weight plays a big role in 'time across the line'."

Torque is what puts the HP to the Ground - right?

If you have 1000 horses but the torque sux, then your not getting all that HP to get you across the line - correct?

 

If your torque sux your time will be high but you will have a real good mph they do help each other but the more torque you make the quicker the car will be ET wise but you need the HP to match the torque.

 

Gotcha

 

Gotcha, ditto.

It's more of a progressive thing rather than linear. So if you have low torque, you start slow, but as speed slowly climbs the higher HP starts to help out and the car rockets to a fast MPH.

Something like this....



EDIT: Torque and HP representing whether a car has lots of torque or lots of HP, respectively. Not the HP rating or torque ratings at different speeds or something.